Job fair brings hope for employment

Feb. 20, 2001

Economic trend has little effect on job recruiting

By ANDY JACOBS

Reporter

The Ferrell Special Events Center was packed Monday afternoon with job-searching students and more than 100 companies looking to hire. The Baylor University Internship/Career Fair, organized by Career Services, gave students a chance to talk to recruiters from some of the largest companies in Texas and the United States.

Each company set up a booth on the floor of the Ferrell Center, where students could submit resumes and get to know representatives from the company. Students were professionally dressed and were eager for the chance to land an internship or future job.

'It's a great opportunity to look around and have all these companies right here at Baylor,' said Frank Ku, a Taipei, Taiwan, sophomore.

Ku said he was there to see if he could find a summer internship somewhere in Texas.

Most companies were looking for business majors, but there were several medical and engineering booths as well. The hottest job openings were the technology fields, such as jobs relating to information systems.

Michael Garrison, director of Information Technology Client Services for Chick-Fil-A, said that despite all the dot-com failures, many large companies are still looking for applicants with a background in technology.

Garrison said that some companies, such as Home Depot and Coca-Cola, are experiencing some job cuts, but the technology sector is still strong.

'Technology in business is still growing. The economy has not affected our hiring plans at all,' he said.

Several other companies looked for students majoring in accounting and finance.

Geynille Dillingham, a recruiter for the Houston-based energy company Enron, said they were impressed with Baylor accounting and finance majors.

'We interviewed 10 Baylor students and made eight offers just last fall,' she said.

Representatives from TXU, a Texas-based energy and gas company, were also looking for accounting majors.

'It's one of the best fields to go into right now,' Brad Hall, a TXU accountant, said.

Even with many recent economic indicators that point to a slowing economy, the companies represented at Baylor said they were eager to hire and see the job market as healthy.

'We just haven't seen it yet,' Dillingham said. 'We're still interested in hiring.'

Most companies at the career fair agreed that the most important factors they look for when hiring are grade point average, experience and good communications skills.

Hall said TXU sees college career fairs as an excellent way to meet outgoing students who are eager to start their careers.

'It's a great way to get people to come on board,' he said.

James Claus, a Dallas junior, said his experience at the job fair was a good one.

'I met a lot of really nice people who were interested in what I had to offer,' he said. 'It's cool to see what companies are looking for and how they go about hiring people.'